What, So What, Now What
Posted by: Stephanie in Categories:
Instructional Technology, Outside-of-the-box, Professional Development, Random, Web 2.0.
I think it’s time we — the edublogosphere/edutwitter community — take some “downtime” to reflect on what we are doing, why we are doing it, and what outcomes we think may come from the work we are doing.
Tonight I actually “unplugged” from the network because I felt like my brain was gong to explode with so much new information, new tools, new possibilities, and new concerns (about our work, our online activity, and the tools we are playing with.)
So I am now laying down a challenge for my entire onilne learning network (you know who you are — no need to tag anyone). Let’s use a CFG protocol for this called “What, So What, and Now What” — and I’ll leave this a little open-ended because I know all of you have varied concerns and interests related to a general theme of education transformation around 21st Century skills and knowledge. (Or something like that!)
In a comment or on a blog post on your own blog — take some time to reflect on and address the following questions:
What? (…is going on with our work, with our blogging, with our exploration… OR …new tools are we discovering, playing with, trying to find classroom uses for?)
So What? (Who cares? Why is this important? Why is this not important? What does it matter? Will it ever matter?)
Now What? (What do we do NEXT? What kind of gameplan do we need? Do we need a game plan? Do we collaborate, start over from scratch, quit doing whatever we are doing altogether, or disappear somewhere deep in Second Life? Seriously — WHAT NOW?)
Okay gang — there’s your challenge. If you choose to accept this mission and you decide to respond via your blog, please be sure to post a comment here pointing us toward your blog if the pingback doesn’t work.
I will also be responding to these questions with my own thoughts. I’ve caught up a bit on Twitter with some of the things that occurred this evening (especially regarding O11), and have added that new information to the thoughts that have already been brewing in my head. I will compose my thoughts tomorrow after taking some time to rest and “sleep on it”.
Goodnight all!
Stephanie,
This post could not have come at a more opprotune time for all of us, I believe. This week has exploded upon all of us and I have had more than one conversation with colleagues in which I uttered the words: “it’s all moving too fast.”
If I write anything on the blogs this weekend, it will be a response to your challenge.
——-
Patrick — thanks for responding! Here is the link to the post on your blog: http://chalkdust101.blogspot.com/2007/10/so-you-are-into-technology-now-what.html
Stephanie,
Great post – it is important to stop and take stock every now and again. We need to evaluate all we’ve learned in the context of our own situational needs, both personal and professional.
I hope to post about this in the next few days.
Again…thanks!
diane
———-
(Stephanie)
Diane — I fixed your email address for you
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Thanks for the challenge. See my response here
http://onceuponateacher.blogspot.com
This is a great challenge at just the right time. I’ve been watching and thinking about all that is going on through my twitter while this week at school I’ve had to deal with the peeing bandit, cheating, and a few too many teenage crisis. As I watch the gap between what teachers are doing and what is possible, I’m thinking about how we still haven’t looked at how curricula fits in all of this. Good questions at a timely point.
Great challenge, Stephanie! I think about those questions all the time. The post I put up on my blog today is a good example. What? Web 2.0 for teachers, administrators and students So what? Web 2.0 offers powerful learning experiences for all who get involved What next? Modeling by those of us who are leaders (in my case, a superintendent and the president of the Massachusetts affiliate of ASCD) and legislation that requires the infusion of the knowledge base of teaching and learning, including interactive technology tools, into the 10 sub-systems of the educator supply chain: 1. University Preparation Programs 2. State Licensing Requirements 3. School District Hiring Processes 4. School District Induction Programs 5. School District Supervision and Evaluation Systems 6. School District Professional Development Systems 7. State Recertification Requirements 8. School District Salary, Promotion and Advancement Policies 9. Individual School Working Conditions 10. Individual School Organization Culture
Thanks for opening up the network for me. It’s an honor and a privilege.
Please pass it on.
Good night folks.
For more: http://www.innovation3.blogspot.com
Stephanie,
I finally posted my response to your questions
http://tinyurl.com/2ht27o
Thanks for getting me thinking!
diane
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Stephanie,
I kind-of posted a response even before reading this post! I ‘borrowed’ a post from Kelly Christopherson (referring to this post) and asked a few questions of my own (post linked to my name). Here are the questions I asked:
* Am I the only one who feels like a 30 hour day would still be too short?
* Are there others out there who wonder what kind of commitment it will take for a teacher to be technologically savvy enough to meaningfully engage students with all these new tools?
* Are we focusing too much on the tools and not enough on pedagogy?
* Will educational structures change fast enough to provide our students with a relevant education?
* … and for that matter… What would an ideal education look like today?
—
You ask, what kind of a game plan we need? But I don’t think there is an answer to that. It is almost as if we need to slow down in order to get up to speed!?!
In an attempt to answer ‘Now What?’ I think the key is collaboration! Find someone that is making pedagogical sense of a tool and have them help you. It seems to me that so much money is being thrown into Tech, and not enough into training… so we need to self-train, we need to collaborate more!
What? – We’ve convinced enough people that technology, web, information literacy, etc are important. We have tools to convince the stragglers as we continue.
So what? – We can’t just keep chasing that long tail, trying to get the last few % convinced. There’s enough support now that good ideas have a place to stick.
Now what? – We get the right people in the right places. Not just a good-to-great thing. Right now, we give technology jobs as a higher paygrade reward to good teachers. Teachers need those rewards, but doing it this way sells technology short and lays a truly -negative- foundation for the long-term. We need to get technology literate people, teach them the challenges of education, and let them find strong solutions for the long-term.
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